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Avalanche's Mitchell showing his toughness

New Avs center was hit in face during all three games

By Mike Chambers The Denver Post

Posted:
01/25/2013 11:05:48 PM MST

Updated:
01/25/2013 11:06:02 PM MST

DENVER -- Halloween came early for Avalanche forward John Mitchell, whose face on Thursday night looked like a mask. Absorbing a puck to the forehead did the most damage in a 4-0 victory over Columbus, but incidents in Colorado's two other games messed up his nose and mouth.

"I've never seen a guy three games in a row take such a beating," Avs defenseman Erik Johnson said.

Looks aren't deceiving. The Avs' new third-line center is contributing to his team in multiple ways. His two goals are tied with Matt Duchene and P.A. Parenteau for the team lead, and he's tied for second with a plus-3 rating.

"Obviously he's a pretty tough guy," Avs veteran right-winger Milan Hejduk said Friday, before the team embarked on a four-game road trip that begins Saturday at San Jose. "Every game so far, he's been hit in the face. Pretty bad luck, but it doesn't seem to be affecting his game.

"Definitely shows incredible toughness. He doesn't look too good today, but he battled through it and scored a big goal. When you have a guy beside you going through stuff like this and still producing, it's impressive."

Mitchell, a free-agent signee from the New York Rangers last summer, scored the Avs' third goal early in the third period Thursday. He did so after taking 10 stitches to the forehead, the result of blocking a high wrist shot from Blue Jackets defenseman Adrian Aucoin in the first period. He left a trail of blood to the Avs' bench.

"That's hockey. It's a tough sport, a tough game. That's just the way it is.

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You're going to get zipped up, tough things are going to happen," Mitchell said. "I know how I feel and if I don't feel right I'm going to tell (the trainers). I'm not going to go out there with a concussion and try to play and be a hero. I felt fine. Obviously my face is a little sore, but other than that it's just stitches."

"Someone did their homework on John Mitchell. He looks like a great find for us," Johnson said. "He's probably been our most valuable player thus far, (along) with Varly (goalie Semyon Varlamov). He's played in all situations and has just showed a really gutsy effort."

Avs left-winger Gabriel Landeskog, the youngest captain in NHL history, has plenty of teammates to lean on for advice. Mitchell is now one of them. Mitchell, Hejduk and backup goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere are the only Avs who have played deep into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Mitchell helped lead the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

"He's really sending a message to the whole team that he's here to play, here to play hard, and that's great to see. It affects everyone," Landeskog said. "No one wants to be slacking when he's blocking shots and scoring goals. It's one thing to take a wrister to the face, and get stitched up and not come back out to play. But he came back and played hard and scored a big goal. He's been huge for us."

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